An SCII Christmas
by The Unknown Warrior 11
Summary: FINALLY UPDATED! Chapter 6: A Challenge? Siegfried and company find themselves dealing with an unexpected complication on their way to the party.
1. An SCII Christmas

**Hethra:** Merry Christmas everyone! I was in the mood so I started writing this, and although it's a far cry from what I usually like to write, it's a welcomed relief. This is a special Soul Calibur 2 Christmas with all the characters including exclusives (Link, Spawn, and Heihachi) and there will be a bit of romance (not enough to make you sick but enough to leave a pleasant feeling in your heart.) Wow that's incredibly corny but oh well, like I said I'm in a good mood. Plus I do not own SCII or anything, blah, blah, blah, 'nuff said. Enjoy!

**An SCII Christmas**

---

Snow gently fell from the sky, blanketing the small town in a gentle sheet of white. The spirit of Christmas was in the air and in the hearts of the people. Every so often a hello or how are you wafted through the air with the scent of freshly baked apple pies and cakes. Trees glittered in the windows of the numerous homes and in one house, a tall young man with flowing blonde hair helped his mother in decorating the tree.

"There!" he finally said, standing back to view his handiwork with the angel on top of the tree.

"It would look better a little to the right." His mother observed.

"But mother!" the blond man exclaimed, "You've already made me move it 23 times!"

"Yes, but 24's an even number!" she smiled.

"So is 2." He grumbled.

"What was that Siegfried?" his mother asked from the kitchen.

"Nothing!" Siegfried called back, "I'm going to see if we have any mail."

"Alright dear but be back in time for dinner." She called after him. She smiled to herself. Young people were always so anxious to go places. She turned and continued her baking.

Siegfried walked down the street, looking into shop windows, and smelling the soft scents coming from various bakeries. He smiled. This was his first Christmas since he was freed from his nightmare. It was his first Christmas since being freed from Nightmare. Thankfully his memory of his time spent in the Azure armoured demon was not very good, for he did not want to remember what he had done. But some memories did remain. The memory of the feel of the Soul Edge in his hand, the memory of the nightmare Inferno, and his first conscious memory, the people that had helped him to become free. His smile grew brighter remembering the celebration they had after the defeat of the Soul Edge. What a party! Drinks all around, music, conversations and, he recalled, her.

He slowed his pace to try and remember her name. No, he could not remember that, but all memories get better over time, maybe this one would too. He remembered how her golden blond hair shone in the sun, how she sounded when she laughed, how her eyes were the colour of sapphire and the clearest, calmest sea all in one and how she had been the first one to come and talk to him, the first to show kindness, even after he had committed numerable horrendous acts. "You can't be blamed for those," she had said after he told her this, "It was that damned swords' fault, not yours." He still could not remember her name, but that did not matter now. He would probably never see her again. He sighed and walked into the post office.

"Hello sir! Merry Christmas! What can I do for you?" the postmaster asked.

"I would like the mail for the Schtauffen residence please." Siegfried responded.

"Right away sir!" the postmaster replied, hurrying off to get the mail. Siegfried doubted that there would be anything other than Christmas cards, if there were even any of those. He was surprised to see that the postmaster returned with a stack of letters that seemed out of place in the Schtauffens' mailbox.

"Here you are sir." The postmaster replied, handing him the pile of letters. Then he turned and left Siegfried to wonder who would send all these cards to him and his mother.

As soon as he got home he quickly looked through the letters, separating them into two piles, one pile for his mother and the other pile for him. He was even more surprised to see that he got the majority of the letters. He started opening them. He was a little disappointed to find that the first letter contained only a simple _Merry Christmas_ but when he read the attached name, all was clear. The first letter was signed Heishiro Mitsurugi. He blinked rapidly for a few seconds, trying to see if he had just imagined what he had just read. It said the same although he now spotted a second name. Heihachi Mishima. He could not remember who that was. He ripped open the second letter. It was a card from Isabella Valentine and, Siegfried did a double take, Cervantes de Leon. It seemed that after the Soul Edge was defeated, Cervantes recovered his sanity. The third was from the Seung temple in Chili-san, Korea. His confusion was lifted when he read _From: Hong Yunsung, Seung Mina and Hwang Sung Kyung. _He did not know this last person but suspected that Yunsung and Seung Mina had told this Hwang character about him.

The fourth was from Maxi, Kilik and Chai Xianghua. The fifth was from Yoshimitsu and his newly acquired partner in heroism Voldo. Both were currently roaming the countryside looking to strike down evil forces. The sixth card was from Talim and Link. The seventh was from Necrid, who had regained his sanity after the Soul Edge was destroyed, but not his human form, Astaroth, who was released from the god of war and gained his own humanity, no longer a cold killing demi-god, Berserker who also had gained sanity, Spawn, the warrior from the future and the Lizardman who, along with the others who had been shunned from the human world, had taken residence in a very large cave. The eighth was from Raphael Sorel and his newly adopted daughter Amy. The ninth was from Taki. The last one did not immediately state the name but a message instead. It read:

_Dear Siegfried Schtauffen,_

_You are cordially invited to a Christmas celebration being held at the Alexandra residence in Athens, in the Ottoman Empire on the 24th of December. We apologize if this interferes with your schedule but we hope that you will attend. The celebration will last from the fall of dusk on the 24th to the break of dawn on the 26th. Once again we hope that you will attend._

_Signed,_

_Sophitia & Cassandra Alexandra_

Siegfried re-read the letter again, to make sure that it was correct in stating his name, then he looked at the signatures again. Cassandra, it said. The name repeated itself over and over in his mind. Why did it seem important? Then it hit him. Cassandra was the one that had been kind to him, the one with the golden hair and blue eyes. He smiled again. He ran to his desk and began to write replies to his friends' letters and a response to the invitation. He grinned. Finally he would get to see his friends again. Finally he would get to see Cassandra again.

A month later, Siegfried Schtauffen set out on his journey to the Ottoman Empire, Athens and Cassandra. Unbeknownst to him, at the same time, all the others were setting out too, all thinking about the good times to come, and the memories that would last forever.

---

**Hethra:** Well that's chapter 1. It took a while but some things happen. Things that we have no control over but anyway, please R&R. Until next time.

_-The Unknown Warrior_


	2. Strange Encounters

**Hethra:** Hello everyone. I'm sorry this took so long but I had exams, computer problems and more exams. But I'm done now and should be able to finish some more chapters on my stories. And I've invited my good friend Mitsurugi to do the disclaimer for me so I can get something to eat.

**Mitsurugi:** Umm, he doesn't own any of the SC characters or me and is making no profit off this story.

**Hethra:** (pushes Mitsurugi out of the way) Good Enough! On with the story!

---

**Chapter 2: Strange Encounters**

**---**

As Siegfried slowly walked over the snowy plains he started to wonder about the way all of the guests would see him. Would they think of him as weak? Or perhaps they would believe that he was still evil? Either way, he was almost there so there was no turning back. As he reached the top of the hill, his breath left him.

The city was entirely lit up. Every building was completely covered in beautiful lights that shimmered like diamonds in the dark. And in the middle of it all was a giant building, with more lights than any two houses put together. This, it seemed, was his destination. He was about to start moving again when a voice stopped him.

"Going somewhere, my friend?" A strange voice called, while several more snickered.

Siegfried turned around and saw the group.

"Another street gang," he thought, "and I'm almost late for the party." He took a step towards them when all of the members drew their swords. "Crap, these guys mean business." Siegfried thought. "I'll just have to disarm them and move on. It's only five against one."

Just as he finished that thought, four more jumped out of the shadows.

"Our boss says you have something that he wants." The leader of the group said. "And he wants us to take it from you, dead or alive!" He said as the entire group readied themselves.

Siegfried sighed and took out his old sword Requiem and got into his classic Zweihander lower stance. "Maybe I will have to do some serious stuff." He thought. Without warning, the leader of the group rushed forward, sword spinning in his hand. But Siegfried was ready for him. He took a step forward, bringing Requiem up in an underhand blow that seemed to pass in front of the thug. Siegfried then ducked under the thug, rolled over to the side and stood up.

The thug stopped and turned around. "What the hell was that you little coward? I could've killed you and you pulled back your strike?"

Siegfried smiled. "I didn't pull back."

The robber looked confused for a moment and then took a step towards Siegfried before he stopped.

"Hey boss what's wrong?" One of the thugs asked.

The leader opened his mouth to speak, but a river of blood pouring out of it stopped him from saying a word. He dropped to both knees and looked up at Siegfried

"H-How?" He stuttered.

Siegfried walked towards him and whispered into his ear, "Let's just say I've had some practice." He turned and stepped forward. The thug leader's eyes rolled into his head, and his body split in two.

Siegfried looked at the rest of the group. They looked at each other. A lot of looking took place. Then all of the remaining eight thugs ran at him. Siegfried gritted his teeth and began parrying the attacks as best he could, but his strength was rapidly draining and he was getting slower. The thugs then knocked his sword away and pushed him to the ground. The "second" leader stepped forward with his sword extended.

"Give us what we're looking for and we'll kill you quickly." He laughed. "Of course, there's no guarantee that we won't pin you to a tree and leave you to rot! After all, people are much easier to search when they're dead" He grabbed Siegfried and threw him against the tree. "Say hello to our leader for us." he whispered, and drew back his sword. Siegfried cast him a glare and the thug thrust his sword forward where it suddenly stopped. He groaned and then screamed as the familiar looking tip of a familiar looking sword burst through his chest.

"You can deliver that message for him." A gruff voice said as the figure withdrew his sword. He looked to Siegfried, handing him Requiem. "Let's get rid of these punks."

Siegfried tried to see the man in shadow, when suddenly the moon came out from behind the clouds.

"You!" Siegfried exclaimed.

---

**Hethra:** Sorry to leave you hanging like that but its better this way. So stay tuned and don't forget to R&R. This story is going to get interesting.

_-The Unknown Warrior_


	3. Old Friends

****

**Hethra:** Hello everyone! I'm sorry these chapters keep taking so long. I'm a horrible updater. I simply try the best I can to get and keep these things coming. So here goes.

By the way I don't own any of the characters in this story, except for the bad guys! On with the story!

---

**An SCII Christmas: Chapter 3**

**Familiar Faces**

---

"You!" Siegfried exclaimed. The body of the thug in front of the mysterious character dropped revealing the Samurai warrior Mitsurugi. He looked over and smiled.

"It's been awhile my friend," he said, "I'm just glad that those punks didn't turn you into a Siegfried-kabob before I could get here." He looked him over and then, seeing he was ok, frowned and whispered to him.

"I thought you would be able to take those guys, what with the history and all..." he broke off seeing the troubled look on Siegfrieds face. "Sorry." He quickly added.

Siegfried shook his head and smiled.

"It's alright." His face lit up in a boyish grin "Now how 'bout we finish these thugs off." Mitsurugi smiled too.

"Not a problem," the samurai said and turned towards the gang, "I need the practice anyway." He broke into a run and then jumped right into the middle of the group. Then, as they all turned to face him he simply grabbed the handle of his sword, withdrew it about three inches...

...and then put it back.

One of the punks rushed forward to try and stab him, and Siegfried ran to try and save his friend, only he knew he wouldn't get there in time. But then, to his and the punk's great surprise...

...his arm came off. Along with his other arm, his legs, and his head, before all of the other punks slipped into assorted pieces too. Mitsurugi simply stood and kicked one of the punk's heads out of the way, and walked over to the shocked Siegfried.

"Well, that was fun," He grinned and walked around Siegfried, "But we have a party to go to."

Siegfrieds jaw dropped to the ground and began to make numerous shocked and stuttering noises, before realizing his jaw was hanging open, he closed it, and turned to give Mitsurugi an incredulous look.

"How did you do that?" He managed to ask.

Siegfried simply shrugged and started to clean off his sword. "Living in the mountains with nothing to do gets pretty boring, and one needs to keep his skills sharp, along with his sword." He started walking again towards the town at the foot of the hill. Siegfried ran to catch up, and they began talking about all that had happened in their lives between the end of the Soul Edge and the unexpected meeting in the forest.

---

Meanwhile...

---

In a dark room, a man sat looking into a black crystal ball. There he saw the Samurai and the German cut down his patrol of miscreants. He smiled. He had been expecting them to win, and was greatly pleased by the Samurai's skill in the battle. One of his commanding officers rushed into the room. He bowed and raised his head to look at the cloaked figure.

"Sir," he said, slightly trembling, "All of our patrols have been defeated." The figure only nodded his head. The officer continued.

"Do you want me to send out the next batch?" He asked. The figure shook his head and answered in a low, gravely voice.

"There is no need for such actions right now General Tun," he said, smiling even more, "Soon they will all be together, and as such they will die."

The general bowed again and then left. The cloaked figure checked through all of his mediums, making sure that all of the chosen had made it through his patrols. The girl and the Elf had quickly dispatched the troops; the ninja had also done so, as had the small group of monsters, outcast by the rest of society, whose only friends were the other chosen. The other handicapped Samurai, with his strange sidekick had brought the troops to jail, and the three from the Chinese temple had swiftly and effectively disarmed and tied the troops to a tree. All of the others had already made it to the house. He grinned again. If his plan worked, no force on earth would be able to stop him. He considered this, and started to laugh, a deeply disturbing maniacal laugh...

...and everything faded into darkness.

---

**Hethra:** Well that's chapter 3. It's pretty short, but it establishes a crucial point in the story. Until next time.

_-The Unknown Warrior_


	4. Lost In A Big City

**An SCII Christmas**

**Chapter 4:**

**Lost In A Big City**

**Hethra:** Hey Everyone! I'm back! I'm not dead... yet. But anyway this is chapter 4, of An SCII Christmas and I'm just gonna take some time to thank all those who read this fic.

**Spider-bear** – glad you enjoyed the move Mitsurugi used in the last chapter. If you own a PS2 and you rent **The Way Of The Samurai **(great game), in the opening sequence the hero uses that move. It's my point of inspiration.

**Jarock16** – I agree. I've really only found one story with a Link/Talim pairing, and I think it fits well.

To the anonymous reviewer (me, that's what it said "me") the general is a minor character, not gay, and I've really never seen a giant cobra before so I wouldn't know. And to all of you I apologize for the incredibly slow update times. I'm working on that, and I live to make your time spent reading these fics as enjoyable as possible (and I know that there are more of you). Now... that's done so...

The Disclaimer!

Ahem... I do not own Soul Calibur 2 or any of the characters in this fic (except for one!) and don't sue me.

---

**An SCII Christmas**

**Chapter 4:**

**Lost In A Big City**

_---_

As Mitsurugi and Siegfried entered the city, the German could not suppress a gasp of amazement. The city was brightly lit, and glowed in the evening sky. Merchants who were rolling up their display mats, upon seeing the two wanderers roaming the city, stood and began to ask if the samurai or the German would like to see anything. Mitsurugi almost got arrested when a polish salesman said that he didn't accept Yen, and Mitsurugi pulled out his sword. Siegfried quickly apologized to the policemen, and quickly paid for the sword polish. Mitsurugi grumbled various words at the salesman in Japanese, and there was no doubt to anyone what they meant.

Siegfried then spotted a jewellery store, immediately thought of Cassandra, and was about to enter when Mitsurugi grabbed him by the arm, telling him how important it was to save money in this town, and then brought him down numerous streets and back alleys to come to an expensive looking bar.

"I thought you said we weren't supposed to waste our money." Siegfried told the warrior. Mitsurugi sighed and said,

"If there's only one thing I teach you in life, it's that alcohol is never a waste." He smiled, patted Siegfried on the shoulder, and entered the bar. Siegfried smiled and walked into the bar.

The inside the bar, Siegfried saw as soon as he walked in, immediately betrayed the image established when one saw the outside of the "questionable" establishment. Smoke filled the air, various fights were occurring everywhere, and those who weren't fighting were too drunk to care otherwise. His throat immediately irritated by the smoke, he told Mitsurugi that he was going outside, and left. He got outside, took a deep breath and then considered his options. He _could_ stay outside and wait for Mitsurugi to come out, or, he realized, he could try and go back to the jewellery store to buy something for Cassandra, or at least find the store so he would know for ****futurereferences. He grinned and walked down what he thought was the right street, never giving thought to the fact that he didn't know where the store was, or to the dark figure who followed him.

For what must have been half an hour he wandered the streets, searching for the store, and thought that Mitsurugi could have made the trip in five minutes. He was worried, it was completely dark out, with only the street torches lighting the roads, and there was no doubt that the store had closed long ago, or that Mitsurugi was looking for him. He sighed, and then half-jumped when steps arose behind him. He smiled and turned, thinking Mitsurugi had found him, but was instantly on guard when he saw three **very** drunk looking men walk towards him.

"Hey there buddy." One of the drunks slurred, "Yous is looking losht. Do yousa needs some assis- assis- assis, uh, help?" He grinned stupidly; proud that he had finished a complete sentence. Siegfried smiled nervously. Drunks were sometimes dangerous, and he had left his sword in the bar with Mitsurugi. He backed away from them, raising his hands to show that he was unarmed. The drunks continued to advance, and Siegfried noticed the blades that the darkness had concealed in their hands, glint in the light from a nearby torch. He continued to back down the alleyway until his back connected with the butt end of another blade. He stood shocked, realizing that he was surrounded, until a blunt blow to the back of his head sent him to the ground. As he slipped, shivering into the darkness, he heard only a deep familiar sounding laugh, low and resonating through the darkness...

... And he saw only red.

Siegfried was surrounded in darkness, blindly searching in the dark for... something, anything to assure him that he was all right. Then, a light in the distance, Siegfried slowly moved towards it. The light turned into Cassandra, calling for help. Siegfried broke into a run, only to witness Cassandra turn into a giant, bloated, bloodshot eye that Siegfried was only _too_ familiar with. The eye of the Soul Edge glared at him, then turned into a dark cloaked figure. The figure laughed that deep familiar laugh before throwing off the cloak to reveal Siegfried's worst nightmare. The Azure Armoured Knight – Nightmare – Laughed the same laugh as the cloaked figure...

... And Siegfried awoke, gasping into the night. Except, he was no longer outside, but he was on a bed. He sat up and looked around, and noticed a strange figure sitting by the fire in the room. The figure turned to reveal a man, about 30, worn and weathered by the wilderness, with long wild hair, and wearing a garb that he had once seen Mitsurugi wearing. A common Japanese cloak, a Kimono or something like that. The man stood, revealing a Katana blade much like Mitsurugi's and he spoke to Siegfried.

"Well my friend, it would seem that you're awake. It's been 3 hours since I found you in that street, in case you were wondering, and I'm sure you have many questions, none of which I have time to answer for you," he added, "But I'm sure are very important. I will only tell you that my name is, well, I am known as the Ronin Hiazoki by many, and I believe your friend will be looking for you shortly. Give him this parchment, and I'm afraid you will have to be on your way, as I have business to attend to."

The Ronin walked him out the door, told him that the bar where Mitsurugi would be waiting for him was at the end of the street, patted him on the shoulder, and walked into the night. Siegfried stood stunned for a moment, amazed at what had just happened. He looked at the note the Ronin had handed him, but couldn't read it, as it was in Japanese characters, and turned to walk to the bar.

---

"What are you talking about?" Mitsurugi asked him. Siegfried had found Mitsurugi at the bar and had explained his strange story. Mitsurugi sat with his mouth agape as Siegfried finished, and then just looked at him. Mitsurugi then just shook his and stood up. "If we want to get to the Alexandra's house anytime soon, we should leave now. Maybe the fresh air will knock some sense into your head." He laughed and pushed Siegfried out the door. It was then that Siegfried remembered the note. He stopped Mitsurugi.

"If you don't believe my story then here," he said, handing Mitsurugi the note, "That guy, oh crap what was his name... uh, Hiazoki! That was it! He gave me that to give to you." Mitsurugi looked at him as if he were crazy and started to read the note. Had the sun been out, Siegfried would have seen the blood leave Mitsurugi's face as he read the contents of the note. He looked at Siegfried again, this time with a tiny bit of fear cleverly hidden in his face. He stammered a bit and then cleared his throat.

"Who did you say gave you this?" he stammered. Siegfried looked at him and said,

"He said that he was known as the Ronin Hiazoki. Why?" Mitsurugi answered him in a serious tone.

"He is known as the Ronin Hiazoki from time to time, yes. But more often he is known as Hethra Hiazoki," he swallowed loudly and continued, "The Unknown Warrior." Siegfried looked at him, and Mitsurugi continued, "It's true that he can't be 'Unknown' if people know his name, but almost no one does. I fought with him in an earlier time, and he may have been one of the greatest Samurai to live, next to some of the earlier Daimyo and Shogun of Japan and a man named Kenshin, but if what he said in this note is true..." he stopped, looking at Siegfried. _So young,_ he thought to himself,_ yet so much has already happened to him, and he only came here to have fun, should I tell him, or not?_

"What's true?" Siegfried asked. Mitsurugi looked at him, then smiled.

"Then we'll have one hell of a time at that party. This thing is just telling me how to get there and, uh, what to expect, that's all." He began to walk towards the outside of the city. "We have to follow this road to get there the fastest." Siegfried continued to look at him, knowing that there was something wrong with what he had just heard. He then realized what it was, pushing aside all other thoughts on the sudden topic change to yell after Mitsurugi.

"You mean you didn't know how to get to where we were going!?" Mitsurugi only started to run faster, laughing, and Siegfried ran after him, yelling various obscenities in German, the other events of the night long forgotten, as he looked forward to his friends and the party to come.

---

**Hethra:** Well that's gotta be the longest chapter I've written for this story (or any for that matter) and it feels good. I hope it makes you want to read more, cuz I know it makes me want to write more. Hethra was (if you couldn't guess) my character and that may be the last we see of him (or not). I also added a little Easter egg in there. See if you can find it and add it to your review to earn...

Your name in the next chapter!

Well I hope I left you at a bit of a dead end, with lots of questions, but R&R and all will be revealed later. Until next time!

- _The Unknown Warrior_


	5. Waiting Out The Storm

**Hethra:** Well, I'm back again. It's been awhile but I was rather enjoying my summer. Actually, it's been crap. But oh well. This is chapter 5 of my SCII Christmas story. But before I get too far into that, here's what I promised last time.

YOUR NAME FOR FINDING THE EASTER EGG!

There were quite a few of you. For correctly identifying Kenshin Himura in the story (Hitokiri Battousi) here we go.

**Khetum** – You're right! Kenshin was only known as the Battousi to everyone but his friends. But I did say that Mitsurugi and Kenshin fought together, so it all works out.

**Emmy-Chan** – I'm pretty sure if you read the character bio for Nightmare in SCII, it says that Siegfried was German.

**Spider-bear** – Yeah Kenshin is very cool.

**Jarock16** – Thank you, and like you guessed, Kenshin is the Easter Egg. It's nice having a constant reviewer. Thanks!

**Hethra:** And to my other reviewer...

**Ajax O'Brien** – I wouldn't know, so I'll just take your word. Don't worry, there should be more updates coming. They might be irregular as the school year up here in Ontario, Canada is about to begin. But I'll try to keep the story going.

**Hethra:** Well that's about it for reviews, so onto the disclaimer.

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Soul Calibur 2. It belongs to those lucky ...umm, people, yeah that's it, those lucky people at NAMCO, who are also the lucky owners of Tales of Symphonia (great game) so I do not own anything but the story. Onwards!

* * *

**An SCII Christmas**

**Chapter 5:** **Waiting Out The Storm**

* * *

It was a dark and stormy night... 

At least it was now. Siegfried was baffled at how quickly the sky had gone from starry to star-less. It had been a matter of seconds. So he was now squinting through the rain to keep up to Mitsurugi, who was trying to yell over the deafening thunder.

"**WE'RE ALMOST THERE!**" Mitsurugi shouted to Siegfried, who nodded eagerly to show that he understood. Mitsurugi turned and had to duck to avoid a tree branch that had fallen from a very large tree. Siegfried heaved it out of the path. Just then a light shone from behind them on the path. Mitsurugi's hand drifted to the hilt of his sword, and Siegfried grabbed Faust from his back. The light grew, and suddenly there were three people standing in front of them, obviously shocked at the sudden appearance of two very wet looking warriors. Siegfried and Mitsurugi were both shielding their eyes and only saw the silhouettes of the three. A very familiar sounding laugh barked out, and another familiar voice came forward.

"You two look a little wet." That voice joined the other laughing voice, and then a female voice joined theirs. The woman spoke up.

"Haven't you two ever heard of an umbrella?" Her voice was barely audible over the fresh peal of thunder, plus she was giggling quite a bit. Mitsurugi was grumbling something to himself in Japanese, obviously recognising the figures, when the second voice said,

"Better watch what you're saying Heishiro, 'cuz I know Japanese too." Suddenly the light was lifted, and the three people standing before Siegfried and Mitsurugi were revealed. Mitsurugi grumbled.

"Not you three again."

Standing behind the wet warriors, under a very large umbrella were Maxi, Kilik and Chai Xianghua, who were all doubled over laughing. Siegfried was somewhat relieved to see them, as it appeared that the umbrella was big enough for more users. Xianghua caught Siegfried eyeing the umbrella, smiled and said,

"I'm pretty sure that you can fit in here too, if you want." Siegfried jumped at the opportunity to get out of the rain, and ran under the umbrella. Mitsurugi on the other hand, turned his back to them.

"A true warrior doesn't need protection from the elements." He grumbled, just looking for an excuse so as to not accept their offering. And he took a step before he felt the end of a staff press against the back of his head. Kilik spoke to him in Japanese,

"A true warrior also knows better than to turn his back to his adversaries" Mitsurugi froze. Kilik just laughed, and then withdrew his staff. "So then!" he began "What brings you out into this beautiful weather." Siegfried noticed that Mitsurugi still looked sour at being taught a lesson he already knew, so Siegfried took the liberty to fill in the new three on what had occurred between the time he left his home, to when they were trying to get to the Alexander's home. All three of them looked rather shocked at what he had to say about the bandits, and Hethra, but Siegfried assured them that he had been okay, so they went along with it. None of them noticed as Mitsurugi dragged Kilik away from the rest of the group.

* * *

Once they were out of ear range of the others, Mitsurugi turned to Kilik. 

"We've got problems." He said in Japanese. Kilik nodded.

"You're telling me. This rain isn't about to let up, we don't know how far it is to the Alexander's, and to boot, I haven't had any time alone with Chai since we left." Mitsurugi sighed.

"That's not what I meant. Take a look at this." Mitsurugi produced Hethra's letter and gave it to Kilik. He read it over, paled, then read it again to make sure he had gotten it right.

"He-He's not joking?" Kilik breathed. Mitsurugi shook his head.

"Hethra doesn't joke about things this serious. So we need to find someone who would know a lot on this matter. Because we need help, before it happens again." Kilik swallowed loudly.

"Does Siegfried know?" Again Mitsurugi shook his head. Kilik sighed. "I see."

Just then footsteps were heard coming from the path. Kilik rushed.

"The only one I can think of that could help us is Cervantes." Mitsurugi shuddered.

"I guess we have no choice." He said. Then Maxi, Xianghua and Siegfried appeared. Siegfried was grinning.

"The rain has stopped." He said. "And the Alexander's are just down the road. I can hear music." Mitsurugi grinned.

"Well, What are we waiting for?" He looked around at everyone, and then took off at a run. "I'm damned hungry! Let's go!" And with that all of them ran after him, towards the long anticipated party.

* * *

**Hethra:** Well, that'd be chapter 5. I've been listening to Alter Bridge a lot. If anyone needs to know, they're a new band composed of some old Creed members, since Creed broke up (sniff) but they're pretty good, so it all evens out. So anyway, R&R and tell me who you want to see at the party first. Until next time! 

_-The Unknown Warrior_


	6. A Challenge?

**Hethra:** Hey there, everyone! First off, I must apologize for my lack of… well, of anything lately. To be honest, I had lost the inspiration for said piece, but after re-reading some of it, and after some reviews from people who wanted to see more, I decided that, "Hey! I want to see more too!" So, without further ado, and after the same old disclaimer, I present the long overdue, Chapter 6 of An SCII Christmas

**DISCLAIMER:** I, one Hethra Hiazoki, do not own Soul Calibur two, or anything to do with it. The lucky bastards at Namco beat me to it…

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**An SCII Christmas**

**Chapter 6: A Challenge?**

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"Damn, how loud do they play that music?"

A chorus of grumbled "I dunno's" and "fuck's" gave Siegfried his answer, as the once "jolly" party trudged their way along through the winding forest path and driving rain. It had been more time than anyone could remember since they had met, and had heard the music playing. Since they could hear the music, they had gathered that they were close to the party, they had to have been. But every step they took in what they thought was the right direction didn't get them any closer to their goal, or so it seemed. In fact, to Siegfried, it seemed like they were, if anything, getting _farther_ from their destination. Siegfried looked back at his friends, once joyous (except for Mitsurugi) and now merely exhausted (except for Mitsurugi). Mitsurugi, indeed, seemed hardly phased by any of it. He was still mostly silently trudging along, one hand scratching his rubbled chin, and the other one held stiff at his side. Siegfried shrugged his shoulders. Long ago had he learned to not concern himself over Mitsurugi's sometimes strange actions. He looked to his other friends.

Maxi was dragging his boots as he stalked forward, annoyed look plastered to his face. His once "beautiful" hair, gelled up in it's unique fashion, was now everywhere but up. The rain had effectively made it cling to his face, and Maxi was anything but pleased with it. Kilik and Xianghua, on the other hand… well, to be fair, Kilik, seemed to have it worse off. Siegfried held back a chuckle as he noticed that Xianghua had given up walking and had either commanded, or simply played cute with Kilik to achieve her way. She was now nicely bunched up in Kilik's arms, carrying the umbrella, as Kilik did the walking for both of them. Siegfried sighed and turned around. How long would it be until he could hold someone in his arms, he wondered silently. He did have a certain blond in mind as he thought. Suddenly, his train of thought was interrupted by a loud shout.

"I KNEW it!" Mitsurugi cried out. This was actually quite startling, as the cry coincided with a flash of lightning and peal of thunder, giving Mitsurugi's already rough and tumble look a rather demonic aura, with his sleep deprived look, and the triumphant gleam in his eyes. Maxi turned to glare at him.

"What the HELL are you going on about now?" Kilik stopped to look at Mitsurugi, then to Kilik, then to Xianghua and Siegfried. The latter two simply shrugged. Mitsurugi looked at each member of the group, before grinning and stroking his chin, in an effort to look smarter than most people gave him credit for.

"Elementary, my dear Maxi." He said, earning another glare from Maxi. "It just so happens that about ten minutes ago, I dropped a piece of string, the end of which you see in my hand, right?" He held up a piece of twine. Siegfried had to agree that it was indeed a piece of string. He wondered where Mitsurugi was going with this.

"Now, since everyone can see the string in my hand, I want you all to look over at where Siegfried is standing. Go on." Everyone gave a confused look at one another, before all eyes turned to Siegfried's feet, planted firmly on the ground…

…in front of another end of a piece of string.

"What the…"

The lone warrior gave a short chuckle.

"I know EXACTLY what's going on now. I can't believe I didn't notice it earlier." He began to laugh again, harder and harder, until he could barely stand. The others looked at each other.

"He's lost it." Kilik said. Siegfried and Xianghua had to agree. Mitsurugi stopped laughing.

"I have not. Look." He gave a quick yank to the string in his hand…

…and the others jumped in surprise as the string at Siegfried's feet jumped as well.

"What's going on?" a frightened Xianghua asked from her point of safety, which happened to be Kilik's head and shoulders. Mitsurugi began his explanation as Kilik was left to struggle to keep his balance, Xianghua laughing merrily all the while.

"It really is quite simple once you understand the basics." Mitsurugi stated. He paused, for dramatic effect, and then went on.

"It's magic."

Everything stopped. Maxi stopped grumbling, Xianghua stopped giggling, and Kilik stopped staggering around under her weight, which led to his immediate, painful introduction to the ground. Siegfried almost stopped breathing.

"Magic?" he asked. Mitsurugi gave him an annoyed look.

"No, pan fish. Of course magic! What else?" Siegfried still didn't understand.

"I don't understand." He said. Mitsurugi walked over to the center of the group, so everyone could hear him better, in an effort to reduce the time and energy he knew he was going to spend trying to explain it to them.

"Ok then, listen up. Basically, what's gone on here is that we've LITERALLY been walking in circles for the past few "Hours". Now I say "hours" because, since there is magic involved, I'm almost willing to bet that we only think that hours have passed. In reality, no time has passed, or very little has, and this portion of road has been magically drawn out into an endless loop, so as to confuse us." Siegfried understood now.

"I understand now." He exclaimed. Mitsurugi sighed. "So now what?" he asked. The samurai gave him a strange look, a rather large grin which, in the flashes of lightning, gave off quite a scary vibe.

"Now," said Mitsurugi, "Now, we just have to find out who's casting the spell… and get them to stop." He smiled again. The party collectively gulped. Kilik gave him a wary look.

"And by "stop", you wouldn't happen to mean…" Kilik let the sentence hang in the air, as he already knew what was coming next.

Within seconds, Mitsurugi had unsheathed his blade, and was waving it wildly in the air, as if warding off an invisible hive of bees. Suddenly he stopped, looked around, and turned towards the bush. He jumped into it. Siegfried and company were left quite perturbed and scared by this display of insanity, but were quickly drawn out of it by the sudden sounds of metal against metal, followed by a thud and a high pitched girl-ish scream. Siegfried and friends were suddenly screaming themselves as a green blur shot out of the bush and collided with a large stone on the side of the path. Siegfried was the first to calm down, and immediately pulled Faust from his back. He inched toward the green… thing, and poked it with his sword. The tangled lump suddenly untangled itself to reveal a young looking boy, with green clothes, a sword, shield, and pointy, elf-like ears. The party collectively gasped.

"Link!" The hero from Hyrule shook his head as he looked around at the gathered party, and stood up, rubbing the back of his head.

"Ooooowww…" he moaned. "That hurt. What the hell is that idiot's problem?" Siegfried put Faust away, and pulled a leaf off of Link's shoulder.

"Who's problem?" he asked the elf-ish boy. Link looked around, and shrugged.

"His." He said, pointing towards the wild man who had just jumped from the bushes. Mitsurugi was looking a little angry. Just as Siegfried was about to ask Mitsurugi what had happened, and just as Mitsurugi was dusting himself off from his little foray into the wild, a whitish blur rocketed out of the bushes, and collided with The back of Mitsurugi's head, sending him sprawling to the ground. Standing over him, once the dust had cleared, was none other than Talim, the young girl from the Wind tribe.

"That's what you get for hurting Link, you big meanie." She said pointedly to Mitsurugi. He simply grumbled. Talim, meanwhile, dusted herself off. When she noticed that she was in the company of others, she smiled.

"Hi! I take it you were invited to the party too?" Siegfried and the others nodded, much too confused by the past 30 seconds to even _begin_ to think straight. Talim smiled again. "Good! Then that means that Link and I can take the magic barrier down." She then proceeded to mutter some words under her breath, which in turn made Link mutter words as well, and before everyone's eyes, the path began to twist and turn and shrink until they suddenly found themselves outside of the Alexander household, the very place that most of them had spent the last few weeks trying to get to. Siegfried could hardly believe his eyes.

"We made it!" he cried, before taking off at a full sprint to the front doors. Kilik, Maxi and Xianghua laughed as they walked after him.

Soon enough, all that was left were Link, Talim and a floored Mitsurugi. Link walked over to Mitsurugi and picked him up. Mitsurugi glared at him. Link just shook his head.

"With the kind of publicity that we've all had recently, we had to find _some_ way of keeping this party exclusive, so that's why we came up with the barrier. Everyone had to find out how to break it, or they wouldn't get in." Link paused to let all of it sink in. Talim bounced up and kept going.

"Yeah, but you guys were sooo sloooooww. I mean, everyone else is already here. Plus, they all broke the spell on their own, without hurting Link. So if you want to get angry at someone, then talk to the Alexanders, because it was their idea." Mitsurugi slowly stood up and dusted himself off.

"No…" he began, a slight trembling in his voice, "No, I have a better idea." He picked his sword up off the ground and…

…began swinging it wildly in the air.

"I'LL TEACH YOU TO FUCK WITH ME YOU LITTLE SHIT!" Link and Talim looked at each other, laughed and ran off into the house, leaving Mitsurugi outside in the dark, and the rain. "COME BACK HERE AND FIGHT ME LIKE A MAN YOU LITTLE PANSY! PUT THOSE FREAKING IRON BOOTS ON SO I CAN CATCH YOU AND TIE THEM ON TIGHT AND THROW YOU INTO THE RIVER YOU STUPID LITTLE…" and the random threats went on as Mitsurugi screamed at the top of his lungs and raced after Link, still madly waving his sword in the air.

Yes, all of the invited guests had finally arrived.

The party was about to begin.

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**Hethra:** Alright… woo, there we go! Well, that chapter turned out better than I had expected it to. We've finally arrived at the long awaited party, and Link and Talim have been re-introduced. Yes, I realize that Talim is a little… bubbly, and I know Link really doesn't talk much, but he's gonna have to now, cuz it would be boring if he didn't. So there we have it. You know the drill, read and review, and we'll see you all later.

Next Time: The Welcome committee officially starts off the party, old friends are re-introduced, and Siegfried finally gets a chance to talk to Cassandra. But what of the ominous message left by the mysterious Hethra, and what do Mitsurugi and Kilik need Cervantes de Leon for? Find out next time!

So, until next time,

_- The Unknown Warrior_


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